This invention relates to the banking field and more particularly to the field of electronic funds transfer and customer improvements. More particularly, this invention relates to a protection system which enables customers to access their bank accounts and transact business at any time while providing a customer accessed security area during non-banking hours.
Within the banking industry, a rapid growth of electronic funds transfer technology has resulted in the development of a variety of credit card systems and peripheral equipment. While the specifics of each system vary, their basic structure and function is to provide credit card access to data bases and operational software to allow inquiries to and transactions with a customer's account.
Typical examples of these systems are disclosed in Travioli, Pat. No. Re. 28,081 and Scantlin, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,775,755; 3,802,101; and 3,819,910, which disclose coded card structure, and methods of coding and reading information from the cards.
In order to decrease the manpower and paper requirements associated with banking transactions, a variety of automated teller machines (ATM) have been developed in the industry. ATM's are made by a variety of manufacturers including NCR Corporation, Transaction Technology, Inc. and Docutel Corp.
While ATM's have achieved some measure of success in increasing the service to banking customers, their full potential has not been fully realized. On the one hand, limiting access to ATM during banking hours limits the service to the customer since no access can be had during off hours. On the other hand, locating ATM's where there is unlimited access, e.g. outside the bank proper, does increase the access time, but customers are hesitant to use the ATM's for a variety of reasons including privacy and security.